Curiouser and Curiouser! on rsi http://matt.blogs.it/ RSS feed for topic rsi Copyright 2006 Matt Mower Squib/0.1 self@mattmower.com self@mattmower.com en-gb Break reminder Fri, 02 Aug 2002 10:42:31 +0100 <P>I have a consistent but managable RSI condition.&nbsp; I've had it for over 10 years so I guess it isn't going away.&nbsp; In that time I've had many programs that try and help me manage my time at the keyboard.&nbsp; They haven't worked for whatever reason.</P> <P>I've now found one that seems to.&nbsp; It's called <A href="http://www.cheqsoft.com/break.html">Break Reminder</A>, it's simple to use and free for personal use (I have no affiliation with the company involved, I just like the program).</P> <P>For my condition it enforces a 30 second break (called a micro pause) every 3 minutes with a 15 minute rest break after every ten micro pauses.&nbsp; It uses audio queues to keep you informed of what is about to happen and has options to allow you to ignore breaks (which I have disabled) and&nbsp;blank the screen (to give your eyes a rest during breaks).&nbsp;&nbsp; Timings for during and frequency of breaks is fully configurable.</P> <P>I use the rest breaks to go do other stuff, do a little exercise or just read something on my desk.</P> <P>It's irritating to have my work broken up.&nbsp; It can break the flow state and makes me feel less effecient.&nbsp; But, in the long run, I think it makes me more effective because I feel less pain and discomfort.</P> <P>Recommended.</P> http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00000249.html More about break reminder Mon, 05 Aug 2002 10:09:38 +0100 <P>I've had a couple of comments about my use of the Break Reminder software I mentioned in an earlier posting.&nbsp; These are to the effect that people think it would be quite disruptive to be interrupted so much, the you lose your flow, and that you are "on break" too much of the time to get anything useful done.&nbsp; These are all valid concerns.</P> <P>However for me, priority 1 is not to lose the use of my hands and that means managing my pain levels carefully.&nbsp; On bad days I use the settings that I indicated, on better days -- like today -- I step down a notch (4 minutes work time, 20 second micropauses, 12 micropauses to a rest break, 10 minute rest break).</P> <P>Even so it's not as bad as you might think.&nbsp; A micropause is not a telephone call, it does not involve a "thought interrupt."&nbsp; I can keep my flow and continue to think about what I am doing.&nbsp; For example I used a micropause a second ago to form this the though I have just written.&nbsp; Of course it's not the same as just typing away, but I can't do that or my pain levels get too high.</P> <P>Rest breaks are more likely to interrupt your flow, but on the lower setting I only get about one of those an hour.&nbsp; That's probably as long as I could flow usefully without a break anyway.</P> <P>In summary, yes adding these kind of breaks does impact on the amount of work you can do, yes it interrupts you to some degree but it it also keeps me working without excessive pain.&nbsp; And that's what it's all about!</P> <P>&nbsp;</P> http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00000251.html RIP Tom Hingston, Software Author Fri, 31 Jan 2003 11:18:51 +0000 <P>I've written a couple of times about <A href="http://www.cheqsoft.com/break.html">BreakReminder</A> a very simple $9 piece of software which, day-on-day, is making my life better.</P> <P>I have RSI which varies in pain from <EM>none-at-all</EM> to <EM>I-can't-bear-to-touch-the-keyboard</EM>.&nbsp; Thanks to BreakReminder these days I am, more often, closer to the former than the latter.</P> <P>It is with sadness that I learned today that the author, <A href="http://www.lassen.co.nz/tom_hingston.htm">Tom Hingston</A>, has died recently.</P> <P>Tom's software will live on and I shall always be grateful for the positive effect BreakReminder, and hence Tom, has had on my life.</P> http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00001125.html